Hot Topics:

$20M settlement for St. Lawrence River pollution

Posted:
03/27/2013 12:56:58 PM EDT

Updated:
03/28/2013 10:08:20 AM EDT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Alcoa Inc. says its nearly $20 million settlement with state and federal officials and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe is a positive step and it will undertake several ecological and cultural restoration projects along the St. Lawrence River in northern New York.

The settlement includes $7.3 million for grasslands, wetlands and fisheries; $1 million for buying 460 acres for state protection; $8.4 million for tribal outdoor education, horticulture, healing, nutrition and language programs; and almost $2 million for boat launches on the Grasse and Raquette rivers.

Authorities say the Massena factories of Alcoa Inc. and Reynolds Metals Co., now part of Alcoa, released substances like aluminum fluoride for decades, damaging the environment and the Akwesasne (og-wuh-SAHZ'-nee) reservation.

An Alcoa spokeswoman says the releases were in the past and aren't ongoing.

Welcome to your discussion forum: Click the login link below to sign in with or to set up a Disqus account or to access your social networking account. When you do, your comment should be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (What are the guidelines?.) Report abuse by flagging a comment (mouse over the comment). Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Berkshire Eagle. So keep it civil.

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — The death of actor Leonard Nimoy last week has inspired people to post photos on social media of marked-up five-dollar Canadian banknotes that show former prime minister Wilfrid Laurier transformed to resemble Spock, Nimoy's famous "Star Trek" character. Full Story